LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 229

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HIGHER EDUCATION 229

who cannot part from location or work to seek theological train-
ing; therefore be it

Resolved, That the English District affirm the DELTO (Distance
Education Leading To Ordination) and TEE (Theological Educa-
tion by Extension/and the Spanish version—Educacion Teologica
Por Extension) programs of distance learning and memorialize our
Missouri Synod to do the same, and to enlist and encourage candi-
dates to take advantage of this blessed opportunity to add to our
number of workers within our home mission fields.

English District

5-24
’ To Approve Redesigned DELTO Program

Rationale

The 2001 Synod convention, in Res. 3-08B, “To Address Needs
and Opportunities for Pastoral Ministry in Specialized Situations,”
resolved “that the Synod authorize its Districts to continue training
lay deacons as directed by the spirit of the 1989 Wichita Res.
3-05B in which trained lay ministers serve under the supervision
of an ordained pastor.” The convention further resolved “that in
order to help address the needs to recruit and train more ordained
pastors, an oversight committee composed of members of the
Board for Higher Education, the seminaries, and the Council of
Presidents, in conjunction with District and local representation,
revise DELTO (Distance Education Leading To Ordination).” The
DELTO program is for men who are in, or are entering, a Word
and Sacrament ministry where no seminary-prepared pastor is
available and where his presence and ministry is expected both dur-
ing and after the completion of the program. These situations occur
in many rural areas and in serving various ethnic and specialized
ministries.

The DELTO program has now been revised and is a contextual
program that includes a curriculum of 10 courses taught at the Dis-
trict level (based on syllabi developed by the seminaries) and 20
courses taught through the seminaries. Each student is paired with
an ordained pastor of the LCMS who serves as his pastor-mentor
throughout the course of study. Pastor-mentors must be approved
according to standardized criteria and agree to provide appropriate
feedback to the student and to the seminary on a regular basis.
After completing the first 10 courses, and with the approval of the
District President and the congregation requesting a lay deacon, the
deacon is authorized to provide Word and Sacrament ministry to
the congregation or preaching station served. If the layman contin-
ues in the next 20 DELTO courses, he is considered a DELTO
vicar until completion of the program, receipt of a call from the
congregation served, and ordination. (It is noted that for years the
seminaries, at the request of District Presidents, have allowed vic-
ars to administer the sacraments in unusual situations in vacant
parishes.)

The DELTO program recognizes Jesus’ promise in Matt. 18:20,
where He says “for where two or three come together in My name,
there am I with them.” Luther is quoted as saying, “Where there is
a holy Christian church there the Sacraments must be, Christ him-
self and his Holy Spirit” (The Congregation’s Right to Choose Its
Own Pastor, by C. F. W. Walther, trans. by Fred Kramer, ed. by
Wilbert H. Rosin; p. 67). Luther is again quoted on page 131 of the
same book: “If a small group of lay Christians were to be captured
and placed in a desert region, who did not have a priest consecrated
by a bishop, and would there agree and would elect one among
them, married or not, and would commit to him the office of bap-
tizing, conduct mass (the Lord’s Supper), absolve, and preach, he
would truly be a priest (pastor), as though all bishops and popes
had consecrated him. From this it comes that in case of necessity
everyone can baptize and absolve.” Small rural parishes and
preaching stations are indeed “desert regions.”

Questions have surfaced as to whether a lay deacon, requested
by a congregation for Word and Sacrament ministry with the ap-
proval of the District President, is filling a “divine call.” According
to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, the preaching of

the Word and the administration of the Sacraments require a pastor
with a regular call (Jer. 23:21; Rom. 10:15; Heb. 5:4; AC XIV). A
regular call requires training and examination in the sense of 1 Tim.
3:1-7 and Titus 1:5—9. In addition St. Paul cautions against placing
anyone in this office hastily (1 Tim. 5:22). The completion of the
first 10 courses of the DELTO program and formal action by the
congregation and the District President satisfies these directions.

It is unclear whether the Synod Handbook adequately provides
for lay deacons or DELTO vicars. Bylaw 2.45 b states, “Congre-
gations that are members of the Synod shall call and be served only
by ordained ministers who have been admitted to their ministries in
accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in these Bylaws
and have thereby become members of the Synod.” An addition
within Bylaw 2.45 would be in order to the effect that “So that peo-
ple may not be deprived of Word and Sacrament, an exception is
allowed in circumstances where there is no resident pastor and no
pastor available to lead worship and administer the Sacraments.
Arrangements may then be made by a congregation, with the ap-
proval of the District President, to secure a lay deacon or DELTO
vicar to serve under the supervision of an ordained pastor. These
titles apply to a man who shall have completed the first 10 courses
of the Synod’s DELTO (Distance Education Leading To Ordina-
tion) curriculum as taught through District-level programs (based
on equivalency to the syllabi agreed to by the seminaries) and to
those proceeding with the remaining seminary courses toward or-
dination.”

Resolved, That the 2004 convention approve the DELTO pro-
gram as redesigned by the Oversight Committee requested by the
2001 convention and administered by each seminary; and be it fur-
ther

Resolved, That the Commission on Constitutional Matters be
requested to make the necessary Bylaw changes in the 2004 Hand-
book to reflect the redesigned DELTO program; and be it finally

Resolved, That we pray that the Lord provide a lay deacon or
DELTO vicar to all congregations and preaching stations that can-
not get an ordained pastor, so that their members are not deprived
of Word and Sacrament ministry.

Faith
Woodland Park, CO

5-25

To Continue to Expand DELTO Program

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod continues to
have an insufficient number of ordained pastors; and

WHEREAS, There may be many men willing and gifted to serve
as pastors who do not have the ability to spend three years in resi-
dential seminary education; therefore be it

Resolved, That'we encourage our two seminaries and the Board
for Higher Education to continue to expand the Distance Educa-
tion Leading To Ordination (DELTO) program; and be it further

Resolved, That the Northern Illinois District memorialize this
resolution to the 2004 LCMS convention.

Northern Illinois District; Trinity, Roselle, IL; Circuit 6,
Northern Illinois District

5-26

To Reaffirm and Mandate Reconfigured
DELTO Program

WHEREAS, There is a growing emphasis on equipping laity in-
cluding: (a) equipping for personal witness in family, neighbor-
hoods, and places of work, (b) equipping for ministry within a con-
gregation in a variety of ways including licensed deacons, and (c)
training for rostered ministry such as DELTO (Distance Education
Leading To Ordination); and

WHEREAS, This training is being applauded by many in the
church body and is highly beneficial to local congregations; and